Hindus laud Pennsylvania school for offering yoga

Hindus have
commended Glenside Elementary in Reading (Pennsylvania, USA)
for reportedly introducing yoga and have urged all schools
in USA to do the same for their pupils.

Calling it a
“step in the right direction”, distinguished Hindu
statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today,
suggested all elementary-middle-high schools of the nation
to incorporate yoga in the lives of the students, making it
part of the curriculum. Yoga, referred as “a living
fossil”, was a mental and physical discipline, for
everybody to share and benefit from, whose traces went back
to around 2,000 BCE to Indus Valley civilization, Zed
pointed out.

Zed, who is President of Universal
Society of Hinduism, further said that yoga, although
introduced and nourished by Hinduism, was a world heritage
and liberation powerhouse to be utilized by all. According
to Patanjali who codified it in Yoga Sutra, yoga was a
methodical effort to attain perfection, through the control
of the different elements of human nature, physical and
psychical.

Rajan Zed noted that besides other
benefits, yoga might also help deal with the obesity crisis
faced by the country. According to United States National
Institutes of Health, yoga may help one to feel more
relaxed, be more flexible, improve posture, breathe deeply,
and get rid of stress. About 16 million Americans, including
many celebrities, now reportedly practice yoga. It was the
repository of something basic in the human soul and psyche,
Zed added.

This yoga program, developed by faculty of
Penn State Berks, a campus of the Pennsylvania State
University which calls itself “a ‘Big Ten’
internationally renowned University”, in which reportedly
seated on yoga mats children practice their yoga
poses/postures, is now in its second year. Program
developers Valerie Cholet and Jessica Schocker were quoted
in the Penn State News website article dated February 27: In
disciplines such as yoga and taekwondo, practitioners are
encouraged to work on developing a strong self-esteem.
Further, the basic philosophical grounding of these Eastern
influenced practices stresses an awareness of community and
the way our actions impact others.

Melissa Fisher,
Principal of Glenside Elementary, which has approximately
400 students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, says
on school website: “It is my hope to nurture the entire
child”. This school is in Reading School District part of
which was organized in 1835. Robert Heebner, Jr. is Board
President of the District while Dr. Carlinda Purcell is
Superintendent.ends

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